


I Say A Little Prayer

by allyourlittlethings13



Category: One Direction (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe, M/M, Movie Reference, Multi
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2013-10-03
Updated: 2013-10-17
Packaged: 2017-12-28 06:43:24
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 6,052
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/988957
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/allyourlittlethings13/pseuds/allyourlittlethings13
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A Larry Stylinson fiction based on the movie My Best Friend's Wedding! A story about finding the love of your life, and deciding what to do about it.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. You Belong With Me

**Author's Note:**

> Hi! This is my first time posting a Larry Stylinson story so my apologies if it's not very good! Also, I own nothing! My Best Friend's Wedding as well as one direction do not belong to me so no copyright infringements intended! Enjoy!

A frenzy of chefs buzzed frantically around the kitchen as they attempted to put the final touches onto the Canard à la Rouennaise that was being waited upon by the head waiter. Once the final touches had been applied and the dish was given a once over by the chef, the head waiter grabbed the dish and headed out into the dining room. As he approached the VIP table, he placed the dish down and held his breath. 

Carefully the chestnut haired food critic picked up his fork and knife, slowly slicing off a delicate piece of the food before depositing it into his mouth. After a few chews and a swallow, Harry Styles put down his fork and looked up at the anxious head waiter.

“I’m writing it up as inventive and confident.”

The waiter broke out into a controlled smile and nodded towards the anxious chefs who were peaking through the window of the kitchen door, before walking away.  
At the declaration of approval from Harry, Liam Payne, Harry’s editor and current best friend, picked up his own fork and began eating his own food. Finally after a few moments of eating, Liam spoke.

“By the way, did the guy from the newspaper ever call you?”

“Is this a real interview?” Harry asked as he reached into his pocket and pulled out his cell phone. “Or just some cute guy that you’re trying to set me up with?”

Liam rolled his eyes. “Oh please Harry, I no longer send you men. You don’t even know what to do with them.”

Harry laughed as he began to type in his voicemail password and waited for his messages to play. After skipping over a couple of messages from colleagues at work, Harry heard a new message begin to play. Immediately his heart began to race and he could not contain a smile from spreading across his lips.

‘Hey Hazza, it’s Louis, it must be months huh? So, ugh, I can’t wait to talk to you, I’m in London at the Soho Hotel. Call me, four in the morning or whatever, we gotta talk! Bye.’  
“Who called?” asked an intrigued Liam. “The man of the moment?”

“Quite the opposite actually. It was my Louis, Louis Tomlinson. He sounded pretty desperate to talk to me.

Liam nodded and took another bite of his food. “Ah, the wandering sports writer. Remind me about that one.”

“It was sophomore year at Birmingham University, we had this one hot month,” Harry started to tell as his smile grew even wider, fondly remembering the steamy details of that particular month. “But of course, you know me, I got restless.”

Liam nodded in utter agreement, knowing exactly how Harry could be when it came to relationships.

Harry took a sip of his wine and sighed before continuing. 

“So I get up the nerve to break his heart and then he gives me this look, and then he said ‘The thing that makes me want to cry is I’m losing the best friend that I’ve ever had’. And in that moment I knew that I felt the exact same way. So I cried for maybe the third time in my life, kissed him, and we’ve been best friends ever since.”

Liam sat back in his chair, already enchanted at Harry’s recollection of this man, and waited for him to continue speaking. 

“We’ve seen each other through everything,” Harry said softly as he began to divert his eyes around the crowed room. “Losing jobs, losing parents, losing lovers. We’ve travelled all over together. They’re the best times of my life. Drinking, talking, even if it’s just over the phone.”

“Oh this is so moving,” Liam says with a chuckle. 

Both of the men continue eating for a moment before Harry suddenly perks up again.

“I remember this one night in Leeds, it must have been about six years ago. He takes out his shaving kit and pulls out a razor, cuts the end of his finger, does the same to mine and then makes me swear that if by the time we’re 28 if we’ve never married then we will marry each other. We never talked about it again; I don’t even know what made me think of it.” 

“You’re about to be 28 in three weeks, how old is he?”

Harry’s face began to redden and his eyes widened slightly.

Liam laughed at the terrified look on Harry’s face before raising his glass.

“Cheers!”  
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Hours later once Harry was back in his hotel, he kept pacing around his room and replaying Louis’ message over and over again. He wasn’t sure whether it was the desperation in Louis’ voice or Liam’s implications about the call, or perhaps both, that had Harry feeling like a caged animal that needed to be set free. Before he could allow himself to think any further, he pulled out his cell and dialed the number of the Soho Hotel.

“Soho Hotel, Brenda speaking. How may I help you?”

“Louis Tomlinson’s room please.”

After two very quick rings a sleepy voice picked up the phone. “Hello?”

“Hello,” started Harry in his fakest accent. “You’ve been enrolled in the obscene phone caller of the month club.”

“Hey gorgeous,” laughed Louis, who suddenly seemed very awake. “It’s so good to hear your voice. I miss you! I’ve been calling you for over a month.”

“Well, I’ve been on a book tour and my machine eats all my messages.”

“Or you’re just averaging thirty days to return a phone call!”

Harry laughed and plopped himself down onto the bed, still unable to control the smile that was induced by Louis after all these years.

“For you, less.”

“Okay so I have to ask you something incredibly important and if you turn me down I won’t know what to do,” rambled Louis.

“If I can just tell you one thing first,” interrupted Harry. He took a deep breath and stood up, once again beginning to pace. “This is probably going to hand you one of the biggest laughs of your adult life. I was thinking about you and this incredible night we spent in Leeds like a thousand years ago, and you probably won’t remember it but….”

“Are you kidding me? I think about that night all the time,” Louis said in a deeper than usual voice. “But it’s not why I called.”

Harry’s heart sank a bit.

“I called because I met someone.”

“Wow, that’s great,” Harry said with a little bit too much insincerity in his voice. “You haven’t really seen anyone since Nutcase Nick.”

“No you don’t understand, I’ve never felt this way about anyone before! And he’s all wrong for me.”

“That’s a great start,” Harry weakly joked.

“Well no, I mean he’s a junior at Cambridge University. He’s 20, his name is Niall and he’s beautiful. Also, his dad is like this billionaire, he owns the United Kingdom Premier League Football. You know how I’ve always been uncomfortable around rich people? But they’re such wonderful people, complete salt of the earth.”

“So you’ve met his parents?” asked a slightly overwhelmed Harry.

“Yeah, of course. Hazza, we’re getting married on Sunday.”

Shock and disbelief flooded Harry’s brain as he tried to process what his best friend had just told him. Feeling as though his legs were going to give away, Harry attempted to sit down on the bed but missed and ended up landing on the floor. Quickly he recoiled from the fall and pulled the phone back up to his ear. 

“Louis, listen to me! Today is Wednesday, how can you possibly be getting married on Sunday?”

“We are,” exclaimed Louis. “It’s one of those four day events filled with all the traditions and what not.”

The shock and disbelief that had existed inside of Harry seemed to now be replaced with panic. How could any of this be happening? He knew he needed to think of something to try to stop this from going any further.

“You can’t get married this weekend, you’re working this weekend! That’s a bit irresponsible if you ask me!”

“Taking a weekend off to get married isn’t irresponsible,” insisted Louis. “Come on Haz, I’m scared.”

“Maybe we should talk about this,” replied Harry almost pleadingly. “We can talk for as long as you like about this until you’re sure you’re making the right decision.”

“I need you,” whispered Louis. “I’ll never get through all of this if you don’t come and hold my hand the entire time. Please come. Please…”

Harry went to open his mouth to speak but before he could answer Louis had already started talking once again.

“Man, I can’t wait for you to meet him! I talk about you to him all the time so it’s already going to be like he’s known you for just as long as I have. He’s so nice and intelligent too. I really think that you two are going to hit it off! It’ll be so good to have my two favorite people in the entire world together.”

Cars zoomed down the interstate alongside Liam and Harry’s rental car as they attempted to make their way to exit that would take them to JFK Airport. Since Harry had turned into a panicked, raging lunatic Liam had opted to drive in order to ensure that he would not be killed in a car crash. Sitting in the passenger’s seat, Harry frantically tried to calm himself down by having a cigarette, even though he did not smoke. 

“Harry, why don’t you stop and think about what you’re doing?” suggested Liam.

“I can’t! I don’t have time! I’m a busy guy! I’ve got four days to break up a wedding and steal the groom’s fellow. And, I have no idea how to do this!”  
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

A while later while walking through one of the terminals at the airport, Harry continued to rant to Liam as they made their way to the gate.

“He was in love with me for nine damn years! ME!”

Liam laughed. “I can see why.”

Harry stopped Liam and looked directly at him. “Look, he’s known Louis for like five seconds! Plus he’s got billions of pounds! Also, he is apparently perfect! So don’t go feeling all sorry for him.”

Harry began to rummage through his carry-on bag for his ticket.

“I can’t lose him Liam, I’m going to bring him back.”

Quickly Harry leaned in to give Liam a quick peck on the cheek before he was off and running towards his gate. Liam put his hands in his pockets and sighed, knowing all too well that this could not possibly end well.


	2. The Boy Is Mine

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Still don't own anything! No copy rights infringement intended! Enjoy the chapter! :)

The long flight from New York City to London seemed to temporarily lessen Harry’s panic and anxiety. Since he hadn’t got more than 30 minutes of uninterrupted sleep at one time the previous night, it was no surprise that by the time his plane had begun to fly over the Atlantic Ocean he was already fast asleep. 

Six hours later and Harry was awoken by the captain making an overheard announcement that they would be arriving in London shortly. Immediately all of the anxiety that had seemed to subside came rushing back and threatened to take his breath away. 

Sitting up in his seat a bit straighter, he closed his eyes and began to take deep breaths. Over and over he began to remind himself silently that there was no way that he was going to lose Louis, he was going to fight for him and remind him that they were the ones that truly belonged together.   
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________  
Walking through Heathrow Airport after collecting his bags, Harry self-consciously readjust his messy curls as he made his way down into the arrivals area. As he walked amongst the crowds of people reuniting with loved ones and friends, he kept looking around in the hopes of spotting Louis. 

Briefly the crowd seemed to part and Harry instantly saw Louis running through the crowds towards him, before stopping and making eye contact with his best friend. Immediately both young men broke into wide smiles and ran towards each other.

When Louis was within mere inches of Harry, he threw down his bags and pulled him into a passionate embrace, letting his body melt against the other man’s body, as if they had been designed to fit together. 

The hug lasted for nearly a minute before Louis pulled away slightly. 

Harry was once again left a bit breathless as he took a good look at Louis; both were still holding onto each other’s arms as they were still pressed up against each other, almost nose to nose. He noticed that his once shaggy hair was a bit shorter and had more product than usual in it; his face was freshly shaven and his piercing blue eyes seemed to captivate Harry more than they ever had before. 

He looked utterly amazing. 

“Can you believe I’m going to do this?” asked Louis happily.

“Not really, no.”

Louis continued to smile as he turned around and began to look for someone in the crowd.

There from a distant, Harry immediately saw what had to be Niall walking towards them, looking like he’d just stepped out of a GQ magazine. 

Dressed in perfectly tailored blank pants with a soft green dress shirt that was neatly tucked in, with perfectly coifed blond hair and a smile so big that it looked like it was going to crack his face. There was no use in denying that the man was every bit as stunning as Harry had feared he would be. His eyes even seemed to be lit up as if he was genuinely thrilled to be meeting Harry.

As Niall was about to reach them, Harry did his best to force a smile and put his hand out for a polite handshake. Instead, Niall grabbed Harry and pulled him into a bone crushing bear hug. 

‘What the hell?’ thought Harry. 

“This just makes everything so perfect,” exclaimed Niall as he pulled back from hugging Harry. “From the day I met Louis all I’ve heard is Harry this and Harry that! But now you’re finally here!”

Unsure of what to say, Harry just laughed a bit nervously.

“I’ve never had a brother and I know this is sudden but I have a huge favor to ask you!”

Harry looked at Louis briefly for a clue as to what Niall was talking about, but Louis just nodded encouragingly.

“What is the favor?”

“Here let’s start walking out to the car while I tell you,” Niall said as he grabbed Harry’s arm and intertwined his own arm around it. “Baby, will you be a dear and grab Harry’s bags?”

Louis grinned and nodded. “Anything for my two guys!”

“My best friend, Zayn, broke his pelvis while jet skiing two weeks ago in Spain,” Niall explained as he lead Harry towards the exit of the airport. “So, be my best man?”

“What? Sorry?” the curly haired man asked incredulously. “Shouldn’t you promote a groomsman? Or someone you’ve known for at least 45 minutes?”

Niall laughed and clung onto Harry even tighter.

“My groomsmen are my only two living male relatives under the age of 40. They’re snooty arses from Dublin who I can’t even stand, which means I have four days to make you my new best friend! It’s time to force yourself to get personal!”

Harry’s mind was reeling as they were about to reach Niall’s car, Louis still following behind. How the hell could this guy even be serious?? They’d only just met!

“He’s loony,” Harry thought to himself. “Loony as a fucking tune.”  
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Standing in the fitting room of a high end tailor shop, as a tailor began to make adjustments to a suit that had obviously been specially made for him, Harry could not help but wonder what in the hell he was even doing.

“You like the cut on him?” asked the alterations woman.

Niall, who was sitting down and watching the whole process, nodded eagerly.

“I think it looks perfect on him!”

Harry’s overwhelming thoughts caused him to unintentionally grimace.

“What’s wrong?” asked a concerned Niall. “Do you not like the cut? What if we added tighter pants?”

“No, the suit is fine,” replied Harry. “I just thought that all of the groomsmen were supposed to all dress the same.”

“Not you. You wouldn’t be comfortable unless you were distinctive!”

Harry’s face contorted into a slight smirk.

“What else did he tell you about me exactly?”

Niall started to beam as he stood up and approached him. Grabbing a suit handkerchief that was a lilac color, he placed it over top of Harry’s suit to see how it looked together.

“You hate weddings, you never go to them. You’re not up for anything conventional like marriage or romance or even....”

“Love,” Harry added as Niall smiled and nodded. He paused for a second before continuing. “Louis and I were a wrong fit right from the start.”

“He said that too.”

At that, Harry’s smile disappeared entirely. 

“You know,” Nialled started to say. “I used to think I was like that too, and proud to be! Then I met rumpled and messy Louis and I realized that I was a sentimental schmuck like all of those flighty nitwits I’d always pitied.”

Harry knew that Niall was trying to be open and honest with him by letting him get to know him, but it was too much. He couldn’t bear to hear anymore right now about how Louis had come and completely stolen his heart. He knew all too well what that felt like already. 

“I need a drink of water and a little break, excuse me.”

Just as Harry stepped down from the little platform, a loud ripping sound filled the air. The tailor looked positively livid, while Niall looked like he was trying to contain himself from laughing at the hole that had appeared in Harry’s pants.

“Shit, I’m sorry,” Harry muttered as walked towards the door that would lead to his dressing room. “I’ll get these off so you can fix them.”

Once he was inside of his dressing room he worked fast to pull off the expensive suit before reaching his arm outside the door and letting the clothes fall to the ground.

Grabbing a bottle of water that was sitting on the table, he pulled the lid off and gulped it down in one go. His chest was heaving slightly after he had finished and he felt like his head was spinning.

Quickly he reached down for his cell phone, while still standing only in his black, boxer brief shorts, he hit number two on his speed dial.

“Good morning Harry,” greeted a cheerful Liam. “How goes the wedding destroying? What’s he like? How are you feeling?”

“Liam, how do you think I feel? All he does is talk about him and Louis, all the plans they have together, how perfect they are together. Blah blah blah! And he’s just so bright eyed and dreamy.”

Just as Liam began to reply a knock came at the door.

“Yeah,” called out Harry, not bothering to pay attention to who might be on the other side of the door before focusing back on Liam. “I don’t even know if I can do it!”

At that, Louis opened the door and stepped inside. Quickly Harry put down his cell, where Liam was still talking, and attempted to make a grab for a shirt to cover himself up with.

“Want me to turn around?” grinned Louis.

“Yes please,” he said as he grabbed his shirt and for some reason attempted to wrap it around himself. “You are not the person I was expecting.”

Louis smirked and his eyes twinkled. “You know I’ve seen you a lot more naked than that.”

“Yeah,” Harry admitted as a bit of color presented itself on his cheeks. “But things are different now.”

“Yeah, I suppose they are.”

Louis’ smile had fallen slightly as he set down the bottle of water that he had been holding, onto the table close to the door before turning and opening the door.

Before he stepped out, he turned back to Harry, his bright smile having reappeared. 

“You look really good without your clothes on.”

With that, he turned and shut the door behind him, leaving Harry feeling just a little bit stunned.

“Liam,” he said with a huge smile on his face. “He’s toast.”

_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Stepping into the parking garage elevator at the Football League with Niall, Harry felt a sense of hope that had been restore in him after Louis’ comment at the tailor’s shop.

“Where is your honeymoon exactly?” asked Harry.

“Well, if Wales beats Northern Ireland, we’ll start there. If Ireland beats Scotland, then we’ll start there!”

“That sounds really romantic,” Harry said sarcastically. “I’m sure you’ll have your pick of only the finest motels around!”

“I’m supportive of his career. I’ve been everywhere, now I just want to be with the man that I love. That’s what it makes it a honeymoon!”

Harry nodded. “All I’m saying is that it takes a one in a billion type of guy to deal with Louis’ array of shit. You’ve been introduced to his symphonic range of snoring haven’t you?”

“Oh yeah,” laughed Niall. “He says that it’s gotten even worse than ever. It’s got this rumbling of phlegm to it now.”

At that, Niall stepped closer to Harry as he started to imitate the sounds of Louis’ snoring. Even as the other people in the elevator began to look at him strangely, he continued.

Harry couldn’t hold back his laughter at how ridiculous it sounded.

“What about cigars in bed?”

“I broke him of that habit! But the bathroom is a mess, he leaves his clothes everywhere, he insists on wearing Vans to dinner and he constantly is reading over my shoulder.   
He likes karaoke bars for God’s sake and I can’t carry a tune!”

The elevator pinged and the other occupants of the elevator stepped out, once again leaving only Harry and Niall.

“But he sure can kiss,” added a dreamy looking Niall.

“Well it’s been a while,” said Harry uncomfortably. “So I’m just going to have to take your word for it.”

Once the elevator doors had closed again, Niall continued speaking as he pushed the emergency stop button, halting the elevator. 

“After two weeks though, I threw away the list that I had made with all of his faults and that changed my life. Loving Louis means loving all of him, his faults included.”

“Do you feel like you can’t breathe in small, confined small?” asked a panicked Harry. 

“It’s sweet of you to want to be protective, but nothing ever could, or ever did give me a moment’s doubt about this marriage.”

“People become hysterical in confined spaces!”

Harry desperately attempted to reach around Niall to press the button that would get the elevator moving again but he was firmly blocking it.

“Except for one thing,” Niall said seriously. “You. You’ve always been this perfect person in his mind that he loved for all those years. I had to face up to all my competitive drive, and believe me I’ve got it! I mean what am I going to do? Be jealous of you for the rest of our lives? Our paths will keep on crossing.”

“Is it getting horribly hot in here or is just me?”

“So the answer was there all along, it’s really quite simple,” Niall gently said as he got close to Harry. “You win.”

Harry looked at the man with utter confusion. “I think I missed a step.”

“He’s got you on a pedestal....and me in his arms.”

Harry quickly darted past Niall and pushed the stop button. Almost immediately the elevator reached the next level and the doors opened, allowing Harry to burst into freedom. 

In all of Harry’s hurry to escape, he had not even paid attention to the waiter that was standing close to the door with a tray of drinks. Crashing into the waiter and the tray, Harry fell backwards while making a loud crashing sound that alerted everyone else in the room that he had arrived.

‘Well this is fucking wonderful.’

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope this chapter was alright! Until next time!


	3. Sing For The Moment

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Once again, still don't own anyone! Also, for this chapter lets pretend that Niall isn't an incredible singer! Enjoy!

As a sharp pain shot into Harry’s back from the abrupt fall, he closed his eyes for a second before opening then up again, only to see two obnoxious looking men standing over top of him.

“Oh my god, it’s the groom and the man that he’ll never live up to!”

“Are you okay mate?” asked the second man.

Quickly Niall rushed over to Harry and took his arm helping him up.

“Did Niall say something inappropriate? That is so in character of him.”

Harry raised an eyebrow. “I’m Harry Styles.”

“I’m Seamus and this Patrick,” said the first man as he pulled Harry away from Niall and wrapped his arm around his shoulder. “But you can just call us the snooty arses!”

“Have you sized up the wedding party yet?” asked Patrick. “Since you’re the best man you get first pick.”

“Niall’s a virgin!!” exclaimed Seamus.

Harry began to feel completely overwhelmed and could not think of what to say. Thankfully before he could reply he saw a very pretty middle-aged woman with blonde hair approaching them.

“Is this Louis’ Harry?” 

“Yes.”

“I’m Maura Horan,” the woman said with a warm smile as she shook Harry’s hand. “I’m so glad that you could make it to the wedding!”

Harry smiled. “I’m glad I could make it too.”

“Now, my husband insists that you be taken over to the football field so you can hang out with Louis. But first, you must meet a lot of really old women.”

Harry laughed as he walked away from Niall and the other groomsmen and walked into towards a sea of elderly women.  
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

The crowd was roaring at the football field as Harry walked into the VIP seating area carrying a tray of beers. As soon as Louis spotted Harry he stood up and attempted to take the tray from his hands.

“Here, let me take that from you!”

“Louis,” Harry said flirtatiously. “You unwittingly imply that I’m clumsy!”

Louis sat back down and grabbed a glass of beer from Harry before turning to his left.

“I was confusing you with someone that I used to know. Harry Styles, I’d like you to meet Sean O’Connor and Kevin Finnegan from British Sports Illustrated.”

“It’s a pleasure to meet you both,” Harry said with a wide smile as he passed both men a beer.

Harry stepped down and stopped in front of a man in his late 50s.

“And this is my father in law, Bobby.”

Harry smiled and looked Louis in the eyes as he corrected him. “Future father in law.”

“Thank you,” Bobby said as he accepted a beer from Harry. “If he gives you any grief, you come see me.”

Louis and Harry exchanged a glance and smirked at each other. 

“And of course you already know this guy.”

Harry moved next to Bobby to where Louis’ grandfather was sitting and already extending his arms to Harry.

“Papa Joe!” Harry exclaimed as he gave him a quick one armed hug. 

“I told him that he should have made you the maid of honor or something but he went with his baby sister!”

Harry laughed and approached Louis’ younger sister Lottie and pulled her in for a hug.

“Still the best looking person in the room,” Harry said sweetly to the young girl. “Good to see you beautiful!”

Lottie tightened her arms around Lottie which elicited loud amounts of laughter and whistles from the VIP booth.

“Lottie, that’ll do,” laughed Louis. “Lottie!”

Blushing a bit as she pulled away, she kept her hands hovering over Harry’s shoulders and mumbled an embarrassed sorry.

Deciding to flirt it up a bit, Harry pulled her a bit closer and looked her straight in the eyes.

“Now remember, it’s the duty of the maid of honor to dance with the best man!”

Lottie nodded as the group began to whistle once again at them.

“You can’t dance,” called out Louis. “When did you learn to dance?”

Harry purposely started to move slowly and rotate his hips slightly, while never taking his eyes off of Louis.

“I’ve got moves that you’ve never seen.”

Louis’ eyes seemed to darken a bit at Harry’s movements. Quickly he stood up and approached Harry, who passed the tray of beer to one of the other men sitting there.

“You’re an imposter,” Louis said cheekily. “What have you done with my best friend?”

Harry laughed and began to back up as Louis continued to pursue him.

“I’m still your best friend,” Harry said sincerely. “You just haven’t seen me in a while.”  
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

A while later, Louis and Harry found themselves out of the VIP box and standing in a secluded section of seats on the other side of the football field.

“All I’m saying is that kind of perfection may get irritating, day in and day out,” Harry casually said.

The football match was still going on below them but neither seemed to be paying much attention to it.

“That’s what I thought at first,” Louis admitted. “I mean how can you like someone that perfect? But he does have quite a few good traits!”

“Such as....”

Louis half turned to look away from Harry a bit.

“When I hug him, even if we are in public, I don’t have to let go right away. He lets me hold him as long as I want.”

Sadness immediately began to wash over Harry at the realization that one of the things that Louis loved about Niall was the thing that he had never been able to provide for him when they were together. Back then, he had been so uncomfortable with public displays of affection that he would push Louis away if an embraced lasted longer than a couple of seconds.

Louis noticed the sadness on his face and put his hand on Harry’s arm.

“What’s wrong?”

Harry just shook his head and said nothing.

“I forgot,” Louis remarked. “You hate all that talk about yucky love stuff. The sentimental stuff.”

“I do not!” protested Harry.

Louis rolled his eyes and smiled slightly.

“Okay then.”

“I’ve changed,” Harry said with a forced smile. “I’m not the guy that you once knew.”

“Oh yeah?” asked Louis. “Any relationships over two weeks that I need to know about?”

“This isn’t about longevity, this is about being comfortable. Which I am. I’m completely comfortable with love.”

Down below Manchester scored a goal against the opposing team and Louis began to smile and cheer. Instead of replying to what Harry had said, he just kept smiling at Harry as if his life depended upon it.  
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

The bar was loud and bustling as Harry, Louis and Niall made their way inside. Down further on the stage a man was singing karaoke to Madonna’s ‘Like a Virgin’.

“This is incredible,” exclaimed an eager Louis. “How did you find this place?”

“The door man at my hotel recommended it.”

Niall followed behind the two men apprehensively at the thought of having to sing anything.

Once they were sitting at a table and Louis was cheering for the singer that had finished, Harry looked over at Niall and spoke with the most angelic look on his face that he could muster.

“I didn’t know that this was a karaoke bar!”

Niall half smiled and nodded nervously.

“This is so great, having my two best guys here!” 

“Can I get you folks anything to drink?” asked a brunette waitress who had just approached their table.

“Margarita,” Louis and Harry said at the same time. 

“Blended, no salt for him.”

“This curly haired fool wants it straight up.”

“I’ll have a green apple martini,” Niall added while noticing that Louis and Harry had gotten right up in each other’s faces, completely unaware of the rest of the world going on around them. “Shaken, please.”

“Two words for you,” said Harry. “Margarita.... and best buds!!”

Both Louis and Harry burst out laughing hysterically.

“Florence!!”

“Eh! Chile!”

“We egged them on all night in the rain!”

The men’s laughter only seemed to get louder and more hysterical.

Niall couldn’t help but feeling out of place as he had no idea what any of their inside jokes meant.

“I love Florence,” he tried to add in hopes of getting their attention.

“That guy with the pass,” Louis exclaimed, not even acknowledging what Niall had said.

Harry burst out laughing again.

“The pier is for fishing!!”

“French kissing?!?!”

“I really love Florence,” Niall said once again. “It’s so beautiful.”

Niall’s persistence caught Harry’s attention and he immediately stopped laughing.

“You should take him there for a honeymoon,” he said to Louis. “He’s cute and perky and deserves a real honeymoon. Not some garbage about whether or not Wales beats Northern Ireland.”

Louis smiled sheepishly.

“I mean, you’re off the road until September and when does fall semester start for you?”

Louis and Niall looked at each other.

“I’m not going back for my senior year.”

Harry was a bit perplexed. “Don’t architects find degrees an asset?”

“Well I travel every week between games and training camps.”

“I think the most important part is us being together,” said Niall as he leaned over and kissed Louis on the cheek.

One of the bar staff approached their table and shoved a microphone in Niall’s face.

“Come on mate, get down there on that stage and sing!”

Niall began to shake his head and look absolutely terrified, which caused Louis to laugh and grab the microphone.

“Ladies and gentlemen, who wants to hear my amazing fiancé get up there and sing his heart out?”

Immediately the crowd cheered in encouragement for Niall to get up on stage.

“Louis give me the microphone,” Harry insisted. “He doesn’t want to sing!”

Quickly he pulled the microphone away from his best friend and stood up. Niall immediately seemed to relax.

Harry thought briefly before grinning from ear to ear.

“Everyone please give it up for the dazzling vocal styling of Mr. Niall Horan!”

Niall’s eyes widen in horror as Harry pressed the microphone into his hands and started applauding with Louis and the rest of the bar.

Shakily Niall stood up and swallowed hard before looking at the screen where the lyrics began to appear as the opening notes of the song rang out.

“Loving him is like, driving a new Maserati down a dead end street.”

Harry couldn’t help but stare at Niall.

“Faster than the wind, passionate as sin, ending so suddenly,” Niall screeched without any form of a tune. “Loving him is like trying to change your mind once you're already flying through the free fall, like the colors in autumn so bright just before they lose it all.”

The awful sounds that were coming from the young man’s mouth were enough to leave Harry stunned and frankly terrified. This had to be the worst thing that he had ever heard, yet, the audience seemed to love it. As the chorus began the crowd began to cheer and clap loudly.

Harry looked over at Louis who was smiling and completely mesmerized by Niall, as if he was the best singer that he’d ever heard.

“What the hell is wrong with these people?” thought Harry.

“Losing him was blue like I've never known; missing him was dark grey, all alone. Forgetting him was like trying to know somebody you've never met,” Niall sang as he eased up due to the encouragement from the crowd. “But loving him was red. Loving him was red.”

The song continued and the crowd seemed to be getting more and more enthused about the performance than Harry had thought possible. Halfway he himself found him smiling and cracking up at the sheer happiness that was radiating from Niall. Maybe, just maybe, Niall wasn’t so bad after all.

When the song finished Niall sat down as the cheers still roared and Louis grabbed onto him, grinning like a madman, and planted a passionate kiss onto him right in front of Harry. 

“Or not,” Harry thought.

**Author's Note:**

> Well, I hope you liked this first chapter! I'm American so please forgive my lack of British speech and any knowledge about Football!


End file.
